1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to hazardous material collection devices and more particularly to hazardous material collection devices for vehicles.
2. Background Art
Hazardous materials are often transported from storage facilities and delivered to their destinations by tanker truck, on-loaded and off-loaded thereinto and therefrom the tanker truck theretbrough flexible hose and piping. The hazardous materials are loaded thereinto the tanker truck therefrom the storage facility, transported to their destination onboard the tanker truck, and unloaded therefrom the tanker truck thereinto holding facilities at the premises of their destination. Typically, a discharge hose is coupled to the discharge outlet of the tanker truck, and an opposing end is coupled to the inlet at the holding facility at the destination location. Hazardous materials may typically spill at the coupling points during the coupling, uncoupling, and loading and unloading processes. The hazardous materials may be fuel of all types, including gasoline, jet fuel, oil, chemicals, and hazardous material of all types.
A hazardous material catcher is needed, which maintains hazardous material spills and prevents spillage of hazardous materials during coupling, uncoupling, loading and unloading processes. The hazardous material catcher should have absorbent material associated therewith to absorb excess hazardous materials and prevent hazardous materials from contacting neighboring areas. The hazardous material catcher should be light weight, portable, easy to mount, easy to transport, and have absorbent material associated therewith that is easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The hazardous material catcher should be useable in a variety of hazardous material loading and unloading applications, including vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to stationary, stationary to vehicle, and stationary to stationary applications. The hazardous materials may be fuel of all types, including gasoline, jet fuel, oil, chemicals, and hazardous material of all types.
The hazardous material catcher should shield prevent excess hazardous material and material that might exit, seep, and/or drip from and around coupling from contacting neighboring areas, and absorb seeping, dripping and/or excess hazardous material. The hazardous material catcher should be capable of being quickly, conveniently, and easily movably placed adjacently around the entrance inlet and/or outlet orifices of a variety of vehicles, tanks, and storage locations, be portable, light weight, stored easily, and be useable in a variety of applications. The hazardous material catcher should also be durable, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction. The absorbent material associated therewith the hazardous material catcher should be replaceable, substantially impervious to hazardous material strikethrough, and easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
Different catching devices and the like have been known. However, none of the catching devices adequately satisfies these aforementioned needs.
French Patent No. 1,053,574 (Establissements Boutillon S.A.) discloses a gasoline pump type filling nozzle having a bowl around the spout, above the handle, which catches drippings and prevents liquids from flowing back towards the filler handle.
German Patent No. DT 2800143 (Eichnere) discloses a gasoline/diesel pump filling nozzle having a ring of absorbent material for preventing hands of successive users from being soiled by gasoline/diesel fuel drippings from the filling nozzle. The ring of absorbent material around the spout, above the handle, catches the drippings after the nozzle has being used and hung up, thus, preventing the hands of the next user from being soiled. The absorbent material can be paper, foam or another suitable substance.
U.S. Pat. No. 702,181 (Boyd) discloses a drip attachment having a receptacle for catching drippings from a liquid dispensing apparatus, and in particular drippings from a soda fountain draw-off faucet, when the draw-off faucet is closed and not in use.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,997,529 (Miller) discloses a pitcher drainage frame for accumulating condensate, which may form around a pitcher containing an iced or chilled liquid, and for accumulating drippings from the pitcher spout.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,065,648 (Hocfbaum, Jr.) discloses an oil filter wrench having two semi-circular, semi-rigid sections, each of which includes a plurality of shark tooth-shaped projections which engage an oil filter of an internal combustion engine so that the wrench can engage the oil filter in a non-slipping manner without substantially damaging or marring that oil filter, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,422,469 (Tunstall et al) discloses a hose coupling tool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,750,388 (Hagen et al) discloses an oil filter gripping tool having a looped band, the ends of which are connected to scissors levers through a pair of double pivot hinges.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,249 (Boylen) discloses a fluid sleeve for channeling fluid spilled during the servicing of a motorized vehicle having a top portion, a bottom portion, and an enclosed body portion extending between the top portion and the bottom portion. The body portion defines a first opening operable to engage a fluid inlet of the motorized vehicle and a second opening operable to engage a fluid outlet of a fluid container received therethrough to be disposed in the fluid inlet. In use, when fluid is discharged or otherwise spilled from the fluid inlet or the fluid outlet during servicing, the fluid is retained within the body portion and channeled toward the bottom portion.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,339,872 (Marino) discloses a spill containment bag for use with a container having a leak. The spill containment bag has a flexible bag member defining an enclosure and having a lower section with a bottom wall and a sidewall extending upwardly and inwardly from the periphery of the bottom wall to a reduced cross section at its upper end intermediate the height of the bag member. The bag member also has an upper section with a sidewall extending upwardly therefrom, and the sidewall of the upper section has at least its upper portion extending outwardly to provide an opening of enlarged cross section at the upper end of the bag member. At least one strap is provided to secure the bag member to a leaking container so as to position the opening at the upper end thereof beneath the point of leakage.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,635 (Andersen et al) discloses a multipurpose drip catcher, i.e., a sanitary household or laboratory article in the form of a multi-purpose drip catcher of the apply-and-discard type, formed as a small, essentially flat pocket made from water-proof non-transparent foil material, which pocket is open in its upward direction and the walls of which are glued or welded together along the pocket borders. The back wall of the pocket is provided with an adhesive for application of the pocket onto a container wall. The inside of the pocket is essentially filled with a strongly absorbing hydrophilic material, and the pocket may additionally be provided with saturation indicator for disclosing the saturation of the material with liquid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,379,810 (Marino) discloses a spill containment bag for use about the coupling of a tank port and a conduit. The spill containment bag has a flexible bag member defining an enclosure with a pair of opposing apertures in its sidewall to permit passage therethrough of the tank port and the conduit; the sidewall seats snugly about the elements passing therethrough so as to provide a seal. The top wall of the bag provides a disengageable closure for the bag to permit access to its interior. One or more vents may be provided to permit air to flow therethrough, and carrying straps are also provided. To seal the bag, flaps cover the apertures and the vents. In use, the top wall is opened to permit coupling the conduit to the tank port, and the vents may be opened as required for the particular operation. When the operation is complete, the conduit is disconnected and the flaps overlying the apertures and the vents are closed to permit transport of the bag with its contents.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,060 (Wright) discloses a drip catcher and deflector for bath tub faucets and the like having a deflecting member formed of absorbent and resilient material, such as synthetic sponge, and a strap for mounting the deflecting member to the faucet. A portion of the deflecting member extends laterally under the outlet of the faucet and acts to catch drippings and deflect the drippings from the faucet, so that the drippings falls within the drain outlet of the tub, rather than running down a portion of the tub wall where the drippings might deposit dissolved minerals causing staining.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,501,305 and 4,579,155 (Zola) each disclose a receptacle for collecting gasoline fuel spills having an outer flexible wall and a bottom pervious wall. The outer flexible wall is provided with a tie string in the neck thereof whereby the receptacle may be sealed by pulling the tie string together. A central aperture is provided in the bottom pervious wall. Secured within the central aperture is a central flexible wall having an upper and extending above an upper end of the receptacle. The upper end of the tubular central wall has a tie string therein for securing the neck of the tubular inner wall against a till pipe of a gasoline underground tank. The receptacle contains layers of absorbent material for absorbing gasoline which may spill out of the fill pipe during filling of the underground tank. When the absorbent materials absorb sufficient gasoline, the receptacle may be removed from about the fill pipe and the drawing strings pulled together to contain the absorbed gasoline within the receptacle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,312 (Zola) discloses a drop chute spill guard for containing spills in conjunction with a loading hose supplying fuel to an in-ground storage tank. The spill guard has a flexible barrier sized to surround a sump, an absorption layer disposed covering the flexible barrier, and a sealing ring with a stiffener ring secured to the flexible barrier and having an outside diameter substantially corresponding to a diameter of the sump. An opening is disposed in the vicinity of the tank inlet and extends through the absorption layer, the flexible barrier, the sealing ring, and the stiffener ring for receiving the drop chute. The arrangement provides spill containment with a portable apparatus. The absorption layers may be replaced in the event of contamination, and the sealing ring is provided with a stepped outside diameter to accommodate varying sump diameters.
For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a hazardous material catcher, which maintains hazardous material spills and prevents spillage of hazardous materials during coupling, uncoupling, loading and unloading processes. The hazardous material catcher should have absorbent material associated therewith to absorb excess hazardous materials and prevent hazardous materials from contacting neighboring areas. The hazardous material catcher should be light weight, portable, easy to mount, easy to transport, and have absorbent material associated therewith that is easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The hazardous material catcher should be useable in a variety of hazardous material loading and unloading applications, including vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to stationary, stationary to vehicle, and stationary to stationary applications. The hazardous materials may be fuel of all types, including gasoline, jet fuel, oil, chemicals, and hazardous material of all types.
The hazardous material catcher should prevent excess hazardous material and material that might exit, seep and/or drip from and around coupling from contacting neighboring areas, and absorb seeping, dripping, and/or excess hazardous material. The hazardous material catcher should be capable of being quickly, conveniently, and easily removably placed adjacently around the entrance inlet and/or outlet orifices of a variety of vehicles, tanks, and storage locations, be portable, light weight, stored easily, and be useable in a variety of applications. The hazardous material catcher should also be durable, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction. The absorbent material associated therewith the hazardous material catcher should be replaceable, substantially impervious to hazardous material strikethrough, and easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
The present invention is directed to a hazardous material catcher, which maintains hazardous material spills and prevents spillage of hazardous materials during coupling, uncoupling, loading and unloading processes. The hazardous material catcher has absorbent material associated therewith to absorb excess hazardous materials and prevent hazardous materials from contacting neighboring areas. The hazardous material catcher is light weight, portable, easy to mount, easy to transport, and has absorbent material associated therewith that is easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The hazardous material catcher is useable in a variety of hazardous material loading and unloading applications, including vehicle to vehicle, vehicle to stationary, stationary to vehicle, and stationary to stationary applications. The hazardous materials may be fuel of all types, including gasoline, jet fuel, oil, chemicals, and hazardous material of all types.
The hazardous material catcher prevents excess hazardous material and material that might exit, drip, and/or seep from and around couplings from contacting neighboring areas, and absorbs seeping, dripping, and/or excess hazardous material. The hazardous material catcher is capable of being quickly, conveniently, and easily removably placed adjacently around the entrance inlet and/or outlet orifices of a variety of vehicles, tanks, and storage locations, is portable, light weight, stores easily, and is useable in a variety of applications. The hazardous material catcher is also durable, inexpensive, safe to use, attractive, sturdy, and of simple construction. The absorbent material associated therewith the hazardous material catcher is easily disposable in a safe and environmentally sound manner.
A hazardous material catcher having features of the present invention comprises: a clamp adapted to be coupled to a discharge outlet or inlet of a tanker truck, a support adjoined thereto the clamp; and absorbent material, which is replaceable and substantially impervious to hazardous material strikethrough, the support supporting the absorbent material.